Survey: Costa Mesa's homeless are sick

May 22, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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A homeless woman at Lions Park in Costa Mesa sits along the wall of the Neighborhood Community Center by Lions Park on Tuesday morning. A recent survey of the homeless community in Costa Mesa found that the population is becoming exceptionally sick, with a high number of hospitalizations and visits to the emergency room. KEVIN LARA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Samuel Morales, left, a low-income patient at the Share Our Selves Clinic in Costa Mesa, speaks with Dr. Jose Mayorga, who has treated homeless and financially struggling patients at the S.O.S. clinic since August. KEVIN LARA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The Share Our Selves clinic treats walk-in homeless patients and low-income families who need care. A recent survey of the homeless community in Costa Mesa found that the population is becoming exceptionally sick, with a high number of hospitalizations and visits to the emergency room. KEVIN LARA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Samuel Morales, left, a low-income patient at the Share Our Selves Clinic in Costa Mesa, gets his vitals checked by Dr. Jose Mayorga, who has treated homeless and financially struggling patients at the S.O.S. clinic since August. KEVIN LARA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Anna Ramos Andrade, left, a low-income patient at the Share Our Selves Clinic in Costa Mesa, gets her vitals checked by Dr. Jose Mayorga, who has treated homeless and financially struggling patients at the S.O.S. clinic since August. A recent survey of the homeless in Costa Mesa discovered that the population is exceptionally ill, with a high number of hospitalizations and emergency room visits. KEVIN LARA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Karen L. McGlinn, executive director at Share Our Selves Clinic in Costa Mesa, stands in the hallway entrance where phrases in all languages depict the diversity of those who are cared for. The S.O.S. clinic treats walk-in homeless patients and low-income families who need care.

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Vanguard University sociology professor Ed Clarke organized the October survey of 192 people in Costa Mesa. "These are the group of people we want to get in residences before they die," Clarke said.

A homeless woman at Lions Park in Costa Mesa sits along the wall of the Neighborhood Community Center by Lions Park on Tuesday morning. A recent survey of the homeless community in Costa Mesa found that the population is becoming exceptionally sick, with a high number of hospitalizations and visits to the emergency room. KEVIN LARA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

By the numbers

How do homeless people in Costa Mesa get health care?

65 ER visits in the last three months, reported by 38 people

107 hospitalizations in the last year, reported by 37 people

40% have been prescribed medication for mental health, but only 25 percent are taking it

40% have health insurance of some kind (half of that Medicaid and one-third Medicare)

31% have unpaid medical bills

Source: Vanguard University survey October 2012

COSTA MESA – He slept on a sidewalk in front of a thrift store, despite his heart disease, tuberculosis, emphysema and hepatitis C.

When Robert Collins died Jan. 15 during a cold snap, some in the homeless community weren't surprised.

Collins and another longtime homeless resident of Costa Mesa – who died on the same day – had recently completed a Vanguard University survey covering their health problems and other challenges. The study found many homeless people in Costa Mesa were mentally and physically sick, and rely on emergency rooms and hospitals for much of their health care.

With those findings, advocates hope to speed up plans for the city's homeless housing – especially for a core group they consider vulnerable.

"These are the group of people we want to get in residences before they die," said Ed Clarke, the Vanguard University sociology professor who organized the October survey of 192 people.

The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday night approved an agreement to commit $500,000 in federal grants for a permanent housing project for homeless people.

That could be targeted for the 53 people who accounted for all of the population's recent emergency room visits and hospital stays. Collins, for instance, was hospitalized four times in the year before his death. Organizers found a total of 123 people qualified as chronically homeless Costa Mesa residents.

"They can no longer perform the daily activities of life," said Karen McGlinn, executive director of Share Our Selves, a clinic Collins had said he attended. The clinic recently received a large federal grant specifically targeted to the homeless and veterans.

City leaders plan to meet with the clinic next week to cover health care eligibility, said city Assistant CEO Rick Francis.

Survey respondents reported a wide variety of diagnoses – from cancer and diabetes to heat stroke. Far outpacing state and national averages, 14 percent reported some form of cancer diagnosis. In California, 0.4 percent of all residents had some form of cancer in 2009, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Clarke is planning to do a follow-up study on illness examining environmental factors that may contribute to disease.

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